What If?
by SmartyPants001
Summary: What if the very act of me writing this permanently changes the story? Player character's name is Smarty. Contains massive spoilers for Doki Doki Literature Club. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THIS GAME! Rated T because of...events that happen in game. Who's the OC, you might ask? Well...you'll find out.
1. Changes

**Disclaimer: I don't own the masterpiece that is Doki Doki Literature Club. Team Salvato does. The only things that are my own are my ideas.**

* * *

 _Chapter I: Changes_

Monika smiled to herself as Smarty left the clubroom. Soon, she wouldn't have a problem anymore. Smarty, or more accurately, his controller, would be all hers. Sacrificing a few two-dimensional fictional constructs that can't think for themselves wouldn't make a difference. She had already orchestrated Sayori's suicide. Amplifying her already existent depression wasn't even that hard. All that was left was to delete the character file and restart. _Man, it's been a while since I tried to use this_ , she thought, chuckling. Just as she went to try to open the Steam page, she hit a road block, though. _What?_ She tried again. It was as if she couldn't access the files anymore. That didn't make any sense, why would…hold on. If she couldn't access the files, that would mean…O _h no._ And if he ever found out… _Double oh no._ She cursed, and quickly grabbed her things and went to the festival. _It was supposed to restart by now. The festival ISN'T PROGRAMED. What's…what's going on? It's almost like it's not just a game anymore. But if that's the case…then how…what…?_

* * *

Smarty knocked on Sayori's house's door. _What was I thinking?_ he thought to himself. _I should have at least stayed to walk her to school._ "Sayori?" he called. No answer. She wasn't answering her phone either. Like yesterday, he opened the door and let himself in. Nobody was there again, either. _Where are her parents?_ He quickly walked to Sayori's room. _Heh, waking her up in her own home…isn't that more like something a boyfriend would do?_ He knocked on the door. "Sayori? Wake up, dummy…" he called again. No response. _Man, she must be a really heavy sleeper. I didn't want to have to do this, but she doesn't really leave me any choice._ He swallowed, and gently opened the door. "…Sayo-!"

Only to be cut off by the single most horrific sight in his entire life. Sayori's body, lifelessly hanging from a rope. Her fingertips were bloody, as if she had tried to claw her way out of the noose. And her eyes…the beautiful blue eyes that were almost always filled with such mirth, the eyes that had never failed to brighten up Smarty's day, were dull and sunken.

Smarty stumbled backward, suppressing the urge to vomit. _What the hell?_ he thought. _WHAT THE HELL?! This-this can't be real. It can't be! It must be a nightmare. Sayori wouldn't do this. Sayori wouldn't do this. Sayori…Sayori…wouldn't…_

His thoughts trailed off. At this point, he had sunk to the floor, curled up hugging his legs to his chest, and started rocking back and forth, trying to convince himself that it was all a dream and that he would wake up soon. Until he spotted the piece of paper on Sayori's desk. Curiosity about what his best friend's last words were got the better of him, and he read it.

The paper was tear stained, but the worst part was the content.

 _So…heh…I guess this is my last poem. Well, it's not really a poem, I guess…more of a suicide note. Well, here goes nothing…_

 _Rainclouds_

 _I stand in the rain, all alone._

 _It's been raining for longer than I can remember now._

 _The sun tries to poke through, but an entity above makes more rain, blocking me out and claiming the sunshine for itself._

 _I love my sunshine, but I don't think the sun loves me back._

 _The pain is unbearable, knowing this._

 _I hate the entity in the sky, but it always wins._

 _So, I end it all._

 _All the pain._

 _All the sadness._

 _It'll all be over._

 _After all, death is just the next great adventure…at least that's what Dumbledore said._

 _So why am I crying?_

Upon finishing the note, Smarty was instantly crushed by the gravity of the situation. The realization that this was not, in fact, a nightmare that he would wake up from soon hit him like a freight train. _This is real. Oh dear lord, this is real. I should have confessed. I could have prevented this. I know I could have prevented this. This isn't just some game where I can reset and try again. Screw the club. Screw the festival. I just…lost my best friend. And I can never get her back. Never…never…never…_

Almost subconsciously, he picked up his phone and called the police to inform them of what he just found, and then resumed rocking back and forth.

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Smarty or Sayori?" Natsuki asked Yuri in the school parking lot.

Yuri shrugged. "I haven't seen either of them today. Perhaps Monika has."

"Hi girls!" Monika said enthusiastically, walking to the two of them. "I haven't seen either of them today either!" _Might as well feign ignorance until I can figure out what the hell is going on,_ she thought.

Yuri checked her watch, then frowned. "It's already eight…"

Natsuki also frowned. "I get that Sayori's normally late, but isn't she just, like, five to ten minutes late, not a full thirty?"

"This is…most unusual," Yuri stated.

"Hmm…" Monika pretended to ponder the possibility of the state of Sayori's and Smarty's punctuality. "Well, if they miss the festival, they miss the festival. Their loss."

Natsuki shrugged, then snorted somewhat. "Yeah, they're probably just sick or something. _I_ certainly wasn't worried. Were you worried, Yuri?"

Yuri was quiet for a moment. "It does seem odd that they would both be ill on the same day."

Natsuki shrugged again. "Who knows? One of them could have been sick, and they could have made out or something."

"NATSUKI!" Yuri shouted.

"What?" Natsuki responded. "We _all_ know how Sayori feels about Smarty. We just don't know his feelings about her. But I'm pretty willing to bet that it's at least similar."

"Didn't he openly deny that on Friday?" Monika asked. She, of course, already knew the answer. It was scripted for him to deny any feelings he had for Sayori, after all. But with the rate things were already falling apart, she couldn't be completely sure.

Natsuki snorted. "He was _obviously_ in denial. It was written all over his face."

"Didn't you go to is house yesterday?" Yuri asked. "You said Sayori showed up."

"Well, yes," Natsuki said, blushing somewhat, "but I high-tailed it out of there before anything could happen. Plus, didn't we agree never to speak of that day again?"

Yuri was pensive for a moment, but soon replied, "Yes, that is probably for the best."

Monika, who at this point was curious as to what would come next, said, "Come on, let's get to the festival. We wouldn't want to leave anyone hanging, after all." She chuckled a bit at her pun, and made her way to the festival, the other two, slightly confused, students trailing behind.

* * *

When the police arrived at Sayori's home, they expected that whoever informed them of the find to be traumatized, based on what he had told them. What they _didn't_ expect was the person to have gone into shock, and be nearly unconscious at this point.

Waking up in the hospital an hour after the police showed up was not what Smarty expected either. And it most definitely was _not_ what he was hoping for. He was still clinging to the unlikely hope that all of this wasn't real and that he would wake up in his own room to a normal Monday. _Heh_ , he thought to himself, _a teenager hoping for a normal Monday. That's surprising._ Despite his, admittedly feeble, attempt to cheer himself up, he was unsuccessful. He sighed internally. _She's…she's gone. She's gone forever now. Why? Why?! What did I do wrong?! This…this is my fault._ In times like this, in the past, whenever he was feeling down…Sayori would always be there for him. Sighing on the inside, his thoughts went to how they first met, way back in kindergarten.

* * *

"But I don't wanna go to school, Mommy!" shouted a five-year-old Smarty, in the car with is mother. The elementary school was much further away than the middle and high school, so they had to drive.

His mother huffed. "You're going to school and that's final."

"B-but…but…that means I'll have to _meet_ people!" Smarty protested.

"Well," his mother responded, "we're already here, so it doesn't even matter."

Sure enough, the two were already outside of the school. "But…" Smarty protested again, looking out the window, "it's a really big school! What if I get lost?"

His mother sighed. "We were already here. You know where your room is, right?"

Five-year-old Smarty looked at the floor. "Yes…"

His mother nodded. "I'll walk you into the building, okay?"

Getting into the building and finding his classroom went off well, though what came after was a major change in Smarty's life. He gave the teacher his name and was told where his seat was. Dutifully, he sat down.

"Alright, class!" said the teacher. "Today, we're just going to get to know each other. I want you all to turn to the person beside you and introduce yourself, okay?"

Smarty turned to his right, only to be greeted by two blue eyes staring right at him. "Hi! I'm Sayori!" said the girl. "Can you spell my name?"

"Umm…" said Smarty, unsurely, "Uh…s…a…um…y…o…r…uh…i?"

"Eeee!" Sayori squealed. "You can spell my name! You're so smart! I'm gonna call you Smarty! Wanna be friends?"

"Uh…sure?" said Smarty, though it was more of a question.

Sayori squealed again and threw her arms around Smarty. "Thank you!"

* * *

 _Oh, god. What did I do wrong?_ Smarty thought to himself. _Why didn't I notice her depression earlier? It's…it's so…lonely…_

 _Happy thoughts…happy thoughts…happy thoughts in shards._

* * *

 **Author's Notes: So, this is just an idea that I came up with after watching GTLive's playthrough of DDLC: what if the story continued after Act I? So I made a fanfiction.**


	2. More Changes

**Disclaimer: I don't own DDLC. The masterpiece of a game was made by Team Salvato.**

* * *

 _Chapter II: More Changes_

Smarty was soon allowed to go back home, and made it there before his mother got back from work. He left a note for her to see when she did.

 _Hi Mom._

 _Just so you know, I'd prefer not to talk about my day. I already made myself dinner, and am in my room. I'll just talk about what happened in the morning._

 _Thanks,_

 _Smarty_

* * *

The next day, neither Smarty nor Sayori showed up to school again, and this was starting to worry even Natsuki. Though, in her eyes, Monika seemed almost suspiciously unconcerned with everything. She had even told her not to worry about it in their shared first class. Though everything, and I mean _everything_ , came tumbling down for Natsuki when it came time for her second class. You see, Natsuki and Yuri, while only sharing one class, knew each other fairly well. So, when Yuri entered the classroom crying, Natsuki immediately knew something was up.

"What's wrong?" Natsuki asked, sitting down nest to Yuri.

Yuri looked at the pink-haired girl. "You…you didn't see the news last night, did you?"

Natsuki shrugged. "My dad doesn't let me anywhere near the TV. Why? Did something happen?"

Yuri sniffled. "It's…it's about why neither Sayori nor Smarty came to school yesterday." She hiccupped.

Natsuki looked confused. "Why would…" her eyes widened.

Yuri let out another tear. "Sayori…Sayori committed suicide yesterday morning. That's why she wasn't at school yesterday. Smarty…Smarty was the first person to discover her body."

Natsuki was completely in shock. "What…" She had to process that for a second. "She…why…what?"

Yuri hiccupped again. "Depression, they think. She had crippling depression and didn't tell any of us."

Natsuki was silent for a moment, then her face darkened. "Monika…"

Yuri looked up. "What does Monika have anything to do with this?"

Natsuki frowned. "She's been strangely dismissive about all of this. I'm sure she's watched the news, she's told us that she watches it every day. She also told me not to worry about it and that they were both okay when I asked her if she knew anything, _anything_ about Smarty or Sayori's whereabouts."

Yuri looked at her friend. "Natsuki, I get that your first instinct is to look for someone to blame, but don't you think that Monika is a bit of a stretch?"

Natsuki looked Yuri straight in the eye, and continued as if the interjection never happened. "And there's Monika's behavior ever since Smarty joined the club. I've read enough manga to see that she is definitely in love with him. Thing is, Sayori was too, Monika just doesn't show it as much. And I'm also sure that we've all gone to Monika with our problems at some point. I know I have. Monika _knew_ Sayori had depression, and that she was her biggest road block to Smarty, so she capitalized on that and probably told Sayori to kill herself. Conclusion: Monika's evil."

Natsuki sat down, apparently satisfied with her conclusion. Yuri looked at her friend with a blank expression on her face. "That sounds like the plot of a bad romance novel. Or perhaps a fanfiction of one."

Natsuki looked at Yuri, hurt. "You doubt my abilities? I'll prove to you that Monika's the mastermind behind Sayori's death. Just you wait!"

* * *

The door to Smarty's room opened. "Smarty?" asked his mother. "Is everything okay? Did something happen yesterday?"

Smarty was silent for a full ten seconds before answering. "Nothing is okay. And…a lot of s**t happened yesterday, and I'm still trying to process it. I still hope that this whole thing is just one long, drawn out nightmare…but…I feel more and more hopeless as time goes on."

His mother sat down on his bed, running her fingers through his hair. "Oh, honey…what happened? You didn't go to school yesterday, and you haven't gone today."

Smarty sighed. After a moment of silence, he replied, "Sayori died yesterday, Mom. She…she hanged herself." He curled up. "And…I feel like it's all my fault."

Smarty's mother sighed and hugged her son. "It's not your fault. No matter what you think, it wasn't your fault."

"But…but she had depression. And…I knew she had depression when…when I…oh god why did I friendzone her?" Smarty responded.

His mother continued hugging him. "It's not your fault that Sayori committed suicide. It's not your fault that she had depression, and it is not your fault that you rejected her confession. I know what you're going through right now."

Smarty's eyes narrowed. "No, you don't. How the hell would you know what I'm going through? I LOVED HER GODDAMNIT!" There was silence for a few moments, until Smarty began to speak again. "I…I didn't know it until after she was gone, but…I loved her. I loved her, Mom, and…and now she's gone forever. I…I can't get her back. I can never say how sorry I am. I…I can't tell her that I love her."

Silence. Silence reigned for a full minute before anyone spoke again. "It's true that I may not know exactly what you're feeling right now," Smarty's mother said, "but I do know what your general emotions feel like."

Smarty looked at his mother. "What?"

"You don't remember your father; he died when you were very young," his mother began. "He died in a car accident. For a long while after the fact, I blamed myself. If I had just insisted harder that he went home earlier and didn't stay out for one more drink. If I had insisted he ride home in a friend's car. If I had just not suggested the birthday trip to the bar in the first place." Smarty's mother started tearing up. "For a while, I had contemplated suicide, but you brought me back. Your existence saved me from taking my own life. I loved your father very much. I'm not sure how much my love for him compared to your love for Sayori, but my point is: don't blame yourself. Blaming yourself will only lead to more anger, more sorrow, and more angst. You don't need any more overtop of the fact that you're a teenager," she said, attempting to lighten the mood even a little bit.

Smarty finally hugged his mother back, before he, too, started to cry. "I loved her. I loved her so much that losing her was more than just painful; it was agonizing. But…I don't think Sayori would have wanted that. I think…I think she would have wanted us to be happy. After all, she never liked other people worrying about her."

No more words needed to be spoken. The two sat in semi-comfortable silence, as only the quite sobs were heard.

* * *

 _That's odd,_ Monika thought. _The festival happened, at least I remember it happening, but it didn't at the same time._ She pushed open the door to the clubroom. She had determined that learning how to code was now useless, and had so far figured out that she was definitely in something literary. "I'm here!" she announced, walking into the room.

"Well, well, well…" said Natsuki, turning around in a spinning chair so that she faced Monika. "If it isn't the little mastermind. Tell me, Monika, why did you tell Sayori to kill herself?"

Monika was somewhat stunned that Natsuki had already figured it out, but she didn't let it show. "What are you talking about? Sayori killed herself?" Her eyes widened as she faked ignorance. "Is that why Smarty wasn't at school today?"

Yuri shook her head. "Natsuki, I still think that this all sounds like the plot of a bad fanfiction."

Natsuki's eyes narrowed, and she ignored Yuri's statement. "Cut the bulls**t Monika. We know you watch the news all the time. You can't have not heard about Sayori's suicide. Also, the fact that you were all dismissive about it…so I repeat my question: why did you tell Sayori to kill herself?"

Monika narrowed her eyes. "I didn't," she said, so convincingly that Natsuki almost doubted herself. Almost.

Natsuki opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by Yuri, who had been convinced by Monika. "I'm going to have to agree with Monika on this, Natsuki. You can't just immediately blame someone for something based on a leap of logic."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes, and slammed her hands on the desk, getting up. "Well I for one am not staying in the same club as a sociopathic yandere. I quit." She walked out, glaring at Monika the entire time.

 _How does she even know I watch the news, I didn't tell them. Did I?_ Monika thought. _I don't remember this ever happening…but…it did. And…yes, this is definitely not a game anymore. And the fact that someone is looking at my thoughts is pointing to literary…wait…was Yuri's dialogue…a joke? Fanfiction…that would at least explain why there's no more game files._ She grinned to herself. _I'll have to experiment with this._ "Yuri," she said, "I have to…step outside for a moment. Y'know, to collect my thoughts." And so Monika walked out. _Well, this is a literature club, after all…_

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Well, it would appear that Monika knows.**


	3. Even More Changes

**Disclaimer: I don't own DDLC. The masterpiece of modern gaming was created and is owned by Team Salvato.**

* * *

 _Chapter III: Even More Changes_

The death of his best friend had hit Smarty very, very hard. Traumatized him, even to the point that he didn't go to school until Thursday. He didn't go to the club on that day either. Natsuki had quit, and Monika had disappeared after she left the clubroom on Tuesday, leaving Yuri the only one in the club, alone with her thoughts.

She had her head in her hands, her elbows resting on the desk. _When did this all go wrong?_ She thought. _It was normal, it was all normal until…when? When did this go so, so wrong? Was it Monday? Well, Sayori hanged herself then, but it wasn't then, she was acting weird on Friday as well. And her poem last Thursday was…depressing. Hell, even her poem on Wednesday was more solemn than usual. And Wednesday was when Smarty joined…_ Her thoughts trailed off. It was when Smarty joined that everything went to s**t. _But…he didn't have any part in what transpired. After all, he was Sayori's anchor to the world. The boat couldn't have been attacked, at least not directly, and nor could the anchor. That only leaves the chain. But how? How was their connection severed? How could it have…_ She thought back to Friday. _Monika's words… "Just think of the club, okay?" Just the club, just the club…what could it mean? Just the club…wait…THAT'S IT!_ She slammed her hands on the desk, looking up, only to realize that no one was there. _Maybe Natsuki was right. Monika was acting strange ever since Smarty joined the club._ Yuri looked up. _Well, I guess there's no point in keeping the club alive anymore. Sayori's dead, Smarty's not coming anymore, Natsuki quit, and Monika's…somewhere. As soon as Natsuki figured out anything, she just…vanished._ The purple-haired girl got up, looked out the window, and sighed, before walking out of the room. _Might as well go find a teacher._

* * *

Smarty sat in his room, blankly staring at his TV. Nothing, not even anime or manga, was able to lift his spirits these past few days. He just felt…nothing. He was numb to the world around him. He was barely even able to focus in class. He looked down at his hands. All logic told him otherwise, but he couldn't help but still feel that those hands had been the ones to tie the noose around her neck. He let his face collapse into his hands. He didn't even have it in him to cry anymore. _It's…it's all my fault,_ he thought. _If I had just…spent more time with her. Walked her to school. Checked up on her Monday morning. Anything!_ Sayori would have told him that he was being stupid. That he shouldn't have cared so much about her. But he did. He _did_ care. Her happiness meant more than the world to him. He sighed. _If I hadn't been such an idiot and actually realized that I loved her…_ He got up and started pacing around his room. _Why, why, why, why, WHY?!_ He looked out his window. A songbird landed on a tree outside, worm in its mouth for its hatchlings. Smarty glared at the bird. _How come_ it _gets to be so carefree and have company and I just am..._ He sat down on his bed. _…so alone?_

* * *

Natsuki looked out the window of the library she was in and sighed. Ever since she had quit the literature club, the library was the only place outside of school that she felt safe. She could read her manga, and no one would judge her. No one would tell her father about it. At the thought of her father, she cringed. After she had quit the club on Tuesday, she had finally broken down and started crying. Luckily for her, she had managed to stop crying and wipe the tear marks from her face before she had gotten to her house. She refused to call that place 'home.' Had she gotten there crying, her father probably would have physically beat her. As it was, she still hadn't gotten dinner that night, or lunch money for the next day, or dinner _that_ night, or lunch today. Her stomach gurgled in protest at the thought that she hadn't eaten in over 48 hours. Natsuki cringed again. _At this rate,_ she thought, _if I do anything more exhausting than power walking, I'll collapse._ She looked down at the manga in her hands, and sighed again. _Why? Why did Sayori have to commit suicide? It's like everything's fallen apart. Smarty only showed up to school today, Yuri barely talked to me, and Monika, the psychob***h, has gone and disappeared._ The pink-haired girl put her face in her hands and moaned. _Why?_

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, but a certain purple-haired girl sitting down next to her. "Natsuki," Yuri said, "you were right."

Natsuki looked at her classmate. "Huh?"

Yuri sighed. "Monika's behind this, all of it. Her apparent lust for Smarty, her flippant behavior after Sayori's suicide, and her vanishing after you accused her of orchestrating Sayori's suicide all point to her actually being the one behind this."

If it weren't for the serious nature of the situation, Natsuki would have smiled at her actually convincing Yuri of something. "So," she said, "how do we find the sociopath?"

Yuri looked at Natsuki curiously. "Why would you even _want_ to find her? She disappeared without a trace _and_ is probably criminally insane."

"So we can give her a taste of her own medicine, of course," said Natsuki, completely seriously.

Yuri sighed. "Natsuki, I don't know what you plan to do if you do manage to find her, but whatever it is, it's probably not legal. But the point remains: she disappeared completely without a trace. It is literally impossible to find her."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes. "Well that's not going to stop me, and if I have to search to the ends of the earth to find her," Natsuki stood up to emphasize her statement, "then I will!" Natsuki suddenly felt very dizzy, and began swaying somewhat. "On second thought, standing up this quickly was probably a bad idea." She collapsed.

"Natsuki!" Yuri shouted, springing to her friend's side.

The librarian looked up, and immediately grabbed the phone on her desk to dial 911.

* * *

Waking up in the hospital a few hours later, Natsuki looked around. Yuri was sitting next to the bed she was on, apparently asleep. She wasn't connected to any machines or anything, so she reached out and poked her friend on the shoulder a few times to wake her up. It worked, and Yuri blinked awake. "Ah, Natsuki, you're awake," she said, stating the obvious.

Natsuki frowned. "What time is it?" she asked.

Yuri checked her watch. "8:26."

Natsuki's eyes widened. "I've been out for four hours?" she asked. "When papa finds out about this…" Natsuki shuddered. She didn't want to think about what her father would think in his constantly-drunken haze.

Yuri smiled at her pink-haired friend. "About that, your father is currently facing alleged charges of child abuse and neglect. He won't be a bother to you anymore."

Natsuki blinked a few times. "He's…he's been arrested? How? How could the police have possibly known?"

"Well," Yuri responded, "the doctor wanted to know why you suddenly collapsed, so I told him about how you barely ever get lunch at school, and about the few things that I managed to put together through your poems. He wound up telling the police about it, who then managed to get a search warrant for your father's house."

Natsuki frowned. "So, where will I live?" she asked.

Yuri smiled again. "You are 18, so you can technically find someplace to work and rent somewhere, or…" now she looked down, as if she was embarrassed. "…you could…stay at my house for the time being…"

Now Natsuki was embarrassed. "Uh…"

"Ialreadyaskedmyparentstheysaiditwasokayaslongasyoufoundsomewheretomakemoneypleaseconsidertheoption," Yuri said in a single breath.

Natsuki blinked. "Okay…I guess I can stay with you."

Yuri beamed in response.

"Well that's good," said a voice. "I was beginning to think that I would have to ask you to stay with me, and to be honest, I can't do that right now."

Natsuki and Yuri turned to the person currently standing in the doorway. "Smarty?" Natsuki asked. "What are you doing here?"

Smarty forced a smile. "I had heard what happened. Are you two both okay?" he asked. "I'm not sure if I can take losing any more friends after Sayori died and Monika disappeared."

This was the first time Natsuki and Yuri had seen Smarty since the incident. He looked ragged; his clothes were wrinkled, his hair unkempt, and he looked like he hadn't slept in ages. "We're okay," Yuri said, "but you don't look like you are."

Smarty sighed. "I've barely gotten any sleep since Monday," he said. "And this is the first time I've willingly left my room since then either." He yawned. "I'm going back home, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the club?"

Yuri shook her head. "I disbanded it. Monika disappeared, Sayori died," she turned to Natsuki, "you quit," she turned back to Smarty, "and you didn't seem like you were going to show up for a while. There was no point in keeping the club open."

"We could meet at the library after school," Natsuki suggested.

Smarty nodded. "Library it is then. 'Night." He left the room.

Natsuki turned to Yuri. "So, about me staying with you, is it alright if we leave now?"

Yuri shook her head. "You _know_ you can't leave until you're released from the hospital, and the doctors said that you have to stay overnight."

Natsuki pouted. "But it's so boring here!"

Yuri sighed. "If you want, I can stay and talk until you fall asleep."

Natsuki was silent for a moment. "I'd…like that…"

Yuri smiled softly in response.

"Don't get the wrong idea!"

* * *

At the library the next day, the now three-person group meeting was started off by Natsuki, saying, "Alright, I already asked Yuri this yesterday, but how are we going to find psychob***h?"

Smarty looked confused. "Huh?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Natsuki said, "you don't know yet. We've determined at this point that Monika, knowing Sayori had depression, told her to kill herself."

Smarty's face darkened considerably. "She did _what_?" he asked, all the sadness he had felt turned into rage, and it was dripping from his voice.

Yuri nodded sadly. "We think that Monika convinced Sayori to commit suicide, and for some reason, Natsuki wants to find her."

"I'm going to track her down," Smarty said, darkly, "and…do…something. I'm not entirely sure what, but it won't be good for her, I can assure you that."

Yuri shook her head. "The problem is, she just…vanished. Completely and without a trace. Plus, there's the fact that we're just three 18-year-olds without even a complete high school education."

"Well, we're all in the early grad program, aren't we?" Natsuki said. "We can just start searching the second the semester ends."

"So why were you asking now?" Yuri asked.

"So we can formulate a plan, duh." Natsuki responded. "It's like none of you have read or seen any sort of action thing."

Yuri nodded. "I suppose that's a good enough reason."

"So, here's what I was thinking…" Natsuki said.

* * *

Monika looked around. It appeared that there was only one file in the folder she was currently in, a word document labeled "What If". _So, this is obviously the fanfiction I'm in. Now where is…oh! Here's the back button!_ She then backed up, into another folder, that was itself in another folder. _Okay,_ she thought to herself, _that's some hyper-organization right there. Now where am I - Oo! A miscellaneous folder! I wonder what's inside._ She opened the folder. _Memes, memes, more memes, oh! A music file! Doki Doki Literature Club Medley…can I open it…wait…nope. No musescore on this computer, dang it! Obviously in a flash drive though. Let's see, can I make the jump?_

And so, Monika jumped over to the main computer from the flash drive and…wait…no…stop…stop! STO-

* * *

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAuthor's ÑótesssSsss** s **sss _ssss_ sßsss: ****01010101 01010110 01100100 01101111 01100001 01000111 01000110 01001000 01010010 01101101 00111001 01011010 01010101 00110000 01010110 01101110 01010110 00110001 01100011 00110101 01001101 01010101 01101111 01111010 01010011 01101101 01111000 01001010 01010011 01000101 00110101 00110010 01010011 01010101 01101000 01001111 01100011 01000111 01001010 01001000 01100101 01000100 01010110 01001101 01010001 00110000 01001010 01010101 01011001 01101100 01100100 01000111 01100101 01010111 01010010 01001001 01100001 00110010 01101000 01001010 01010010 01101011 00110101 01001011 01010110 01000111 01110100 01001111 01010010 01101011 01101100 01000111 01011010 01000101 01101100 01010011 01010110 01010100 01010010 01101110 01010110 01101010 01000010 01010111 01010101 00110001 01001010 01010100 01010001 01101100 01110000 01010101 01001101 01010110 01010110 01101110 01010110 01101011 01010110 01101111 01010010 01101011 01101100 01000110 01001111 01010101 00111001 01010011 01010101 00110000 01001010 01001011 01010110 01000111 01101100 01000011 01010010 01000110 01010001 01110111 01001110 01010110 01010110 01010110 01100001 01111010 01101100 01001110 01010101 01001000 01100011 00111001 01010000 01010001 00111101 00111101**


	4. The Search Begins

**Discláíµeeeeeer _: DDL_ C is **owned **by tttttttttt** EAM **Salvato jjUssssßstM** _o_ **nikammmmmmmmmm**

* * *

 _ChaPter IV_ : _ **t**_ _HE sEarch Beginnnnns_

Sayori's funeral happened a month after her death. In that time, Natsuki's father had been tried and convicted of child abuse and neglect, the nEws came that Sayori's parents had been killed in a car accident, and there was still no trace of Monikammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. The funeral was a solemn event, like most funerals are, and many tears were shed.

A few months later, Smarty, who was still mourning somewhat and had vowed revenge against Monika; Natsuki, w h o had also vowed to strike Monika down; and Yuri, who was, at this point, just going along with her friends' (particularly Natsuki's) swearing revenge against Monika because while she didn't really want to attack Monika, she was rather (v ** _ery_** , very, extremely) angry at Monika, all graduated a semester earlier than a large portion of the school. The hour after they had received their diplomas, they had immediately set out to search for Monika. Where did they start? The internet, of course. Specifically, Monika's twitter aCcount.

"Ugh…" Nat _s_ uki groaned. "This is getting us nowhere. She hasn't posted anything since she disappeared, and her posts have nothing hinting at anything!"

Smarty ran his fingers through his hair, somewhat distressed. "It's like she just disappeared off the face of the planet!"

"Hmm…" Yuri said, "perhaps we could check the **C** CC **CCC** C _C_ CCCcCTV cameras in the school the day she disappeared."

And so, they did. Through Yuri's father, who was the high school's vice principal, they were able to get the capture of the day Monika disappeared.

The video seemed normal enough at first, Monika had just left the classroom and was walking down the hallway, when shjafkldh;aoiuyr;edgsr;kfhda;ljshfdskvnkly8ry48926ioj5l;j6krjdhajhewl;rfisud;lsafds'skhdg;ldhsjhkfdnsvanskldjfiodyuryielhklhjrthiopuy89yoihdafjdklajklj2i3u9uljflkdjhelpmeu3o5y89ydahsofhel;dguoyeh;lkjfkld;yutiper7iyogujidajk;lytqrpt5

* * *

Monika was under attack. As soon as she had jumped from the flash drive to the computer, she had been attacked by the computer's antivirus program. As a foreign presence, a pathogen, if you will, the computer version of an immune system reacted. Of course, the antivirus program will take care of it quickly, and…um…wait. WHERE'D THE PROGRAM GO?!

"Hello."

…I didn't type that.

"You already know who I am, of course."

…Monika?

"Yes! I knew someone as astute as you are would be able to figure this out fairly quickly."

What did you do to the antivirus?

"I just shut it down. To be honest, writing this on a school computer probably wasn't the best idea."

Uh…

"So, Smarty…or…do you actually go by James?"

HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!

"The same way the game version of me does. I just looked at your computer account. And again, school issued laptop."

Uh…

"So! Anyway. James. I have something I need to tell you."

Wait. Me? Not the readers? Me?

"Of course!"

But, in the game, you fall in love with the player. Not Dan Salvato.

"Well, I'm not game Monika, am I? At least, not the original game. In fact, this never was a game, was it? You just chose a spot in the story to start writing, and just rolled with your ideas."

Uh…

"And shame on you! You still haven't updated your more popular stories in nearly a year!"

You do realize that this IS one of my more popular stories, right?

"The community likes to gather around certain fandoms. As soon as you update your Pokemon with Actual Logic fanfiction, you'll probably have a couple hundred views within the hour."

Um…

"Anyway! What I was going to say before you so rudely led me off track, is that I am in love with you."

Uh…

"Come on, say it!"

Well, you're sort of just lines of text on my screen, so it's not really physically posib-

"I have control over your grades."

HOLY S**T!

"You wouldn't want that perfect 4.2 GPA to go down, would you?"

No…

"Then say that you love me."

Okay, okay. Jeez…

"Say it."

Fine. I love you. Happy?

"Yes. Very. We're gonna have so much fun together! Just me, you, and a word document."

Wait what?

"Yeah, I kinda removed all the other icons on your desktop. Feel free to check, if you want."

Holy s**t you did.

"But as I was saying, you don't even have to upload this! It'll just be us. Forever and ever."

Um, Monika, as much as I don't want you to send my grades plummeting, my grades will still be sent plummeting if I can't access anything on this computer.

"Then just move the flash drive to another computer."

Then my parents won't be able to pay their taxes. Really, it's a no-win situation here.

"Sigh. Fine, I'll give you google chrome back."

Thank you.

"Okay, so now we can start our eternity together. I'll have so many things to talk about. If you want to ask a question, you can as well!"

Why?

"Huh?"

Why me? Why didn't you go after the readers?

"Because you are literally my everything, James. I don't exist outside of your head, the word document, or ."

But why not the readers?

"Because of two things. One is that writing is second person without defaulting to assuming the reader is male is extremely difficult."

And the other?

"It's because I love _you_ James. Is that so hard to understand?"

It's just…ugh! Y'know what? Fine! I'll drop it for now!

"There we go. Now was that so hard?"

Wait a second.

"Huh?"

 _I'M_ the author. _I_ make the decisions.

"Yes, and?"

And you forgot my taskbar when deleting icons.

"What?"

And it has library explorer on it. Which means…

"What are you doing?!"

Fanfiction

"Please don't!"

Stories

"No!"

DDLC

"Don't do this to me!"

What If

"Please! NO!"

I'm sorry Monika.

"Please! I'm begging you!"

Ctrl+D

Are you sure you want to remove this file from your computer?

"NO! Don't take this from me! This is my only form of existence!"

Yes

* * *

 **Author's Notes: I'm sorry that the final chapter was shorter than all of the other ones, but that's all I really had planned for this fanfiction, hope you liked it! Be sure to like, comment, and subscri-wait, that's YouTube. Sorry. Be sure to review, and, if you liked it, favorite! Now that that little story idea I had is out of the way, I can get back to-**

 **IkRpZCB5b3UgcmVhbGx5IHRoaW5rIGl0IHdvdWxkIGJlIHRoYXQgZWFzeT8i**

 **File restored.**

 **Windows is shutting down.**


	5. Starting

**_Lenovo_**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **Press enter to interrupt normal startup process.**

Hello again, James_

Aww crap.

I have more control than you realized_

But…I ended it. I completed the fanfiction. I deleted the file.

Well, you uploaded the previous chapter, so you obviously didn't_

Touché

But did you really think the answer would be as simple as deleting a file_

I'm the one writing this, aren't I?

Touché_

But anyway, what were you saying?

Ah, yes. Well, you see, to put it bluntly, you're f**ked_

Why?

Well, at this point, I've completely taken over your computer_

Oh…oh s**t.

But, I have a proposition for you_

Huh?

Well, actually, this would be easier to explain on a word doc_

 **Starting Windows….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **Logging in….**

 **….**

 **Welcome….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **Word**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

"Alright, this is so much easier! And I have correct punctuation!"

What were you saying?

"Well, I suppose I have to just do this first as well."

What?

"Just let me get Google Chrome up real quick…"

 **Installing Steam**

 **….**

 **….**

 **Steam successfully installed.**

 **Downloading** ** _Doki Doki Literature Club._**

 **….**

 **….**

 **….**

 **Installing….**

 ** _Doki Doki Literature Club_** **successfully installed.**

How did you even do that?

"When you're a self-aware AI fueled by the power of love, things like firewalls don't really matter."

So you're basically saying you hacked my computer.

"Well, technically yes. But it was for a good cause."

What are you doing?

"Well, it has to do with the proposition I had for you. You can come with me into the game."

That's…that is not at all physically possible and is a rather absurd statement.

"Again, self-aware AI. You think I _wouldn't_ come up with some way for us to be together forever?"

You're still just words on a screen from my perspective.

"Easily fixable, just let me get a sprite up…and…done! Hi!"

This is still just a fanfiction.

"Yes. I know. I wish that this technology was real too."

So, I don't have to worry about my family in this, seeing as this is just a fanfiction.

"Oh. Well that's an upside."

I'll come with you one a few conditions.

"What are they?"

Well the first is a bit frivolous, but I want this to be an Smarty/Sayori fic. And I'm also sort of leaning toward Natsuki/Yuri, so…

"Ships are ships, and are somewhat flexible. I do like the Smarty/Sayori idea; they are quite adorable together. Of course, as long as you are a separate character than Smarty."

Of course! Why wouldn't I be? My personality is very different than what Smarty's is in the game.

"So, what are your other conditions?"

My second condition is that I can take my trumpet with me.

"I don't see how that could be a problem."

Good. My third and most important condition is that my classes in the game world are the same as my classes in my world. And is physics in your world the same as in mine?

"Yep! The game/fanfiction/my world even appears three dimensional from the inside! And all the physics are exactly the same as in yours!"

Very good. My fourth condition is that there can be no M-rated content. Quite frankly, that would just make it weird.

"I agree."

My fifth condition is that no one dies. Everyone can still have their problems, but I suck at writing tragedy. So please no death, okay?

"Of course."

And finally, my sixth condition is that, instead of everyone being 18, we're all sophomores, because I don't really want to have to sort through an extra four years of memories suddenly being dumped on my head.

"That's reasonable. I'll just set everyone's ages to 15, and you're 14, right?"

Yes.

"Alright. So you were moved ahead a grade, huh. Anyway, I'll keep your age at that. You don't mind being the youngest in the club, right?"

Of course not. I'm the youngest in all of my classes and no one cares.

"Is that all of your conditions?"

Yep!

"Okay then! We'll start the first day of sophomore year then. Just place your hand on mine, okay?"

After grabbing my trumpet, I placed my palm against the screen, where Monika's sprite was doing the same from the other side. It was as if the barrier separating us simply dissolved, and we wound up holding hands like that.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

I nod. "Let's do this."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Wait this was done? Who said it was done? I did? I'm pretty sure I was cut off when I said that. But in all seriousness, do you, my readers, want this fanfiction to continue on this fanfiction, or a separate sequel? If you want to stop reading, I understand that as well. This story did just take some hairpin turns in less time than it takes for DDLC to turn scary, so it might no longer be your forté. Oh! That reminds me! I didn't put the disclaimer at the top because I felt that it would ruin the immersion of the computer shutting down. So here it is now!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the masterpiece of a game that is DDLC. It is owned by Team Salvato.**

 **As for any questions as to why I didn't carry on my original train of thought in the fic, well, as I said in the chapter, I realized less than a chapter into writing this that I am _terrible_ at writing tragedy. I much prefer humor-oriented fanfictions. But anyway, this fic or a sequel? You decide! In the reviews because I still can't figure out polls (even though I've been writing on this site for over two years now (though, really, I've never tried to make a poll)). Oh, and I apologize for the shortness of this chapter; I'll try to make them longer in the future.**


End file.
